Inferiority complex

[Proper Blade]

One thing I realised today: no matter who is in charge of the pigs, which players they have or where they are in the league, they come into Sheffield derbies hoping not to lose.

When was the last time they won a derby? When was the last time they even TRIED to win a derby? Every time they come to Bramall Lane they know they're not as good as us, so they kick us, waste time and sit back on the edge of their own box for 90 minutes.

They officially have a pathetic inferiority complex where their first thought is a 0-0. A loser mentality. We are the better team, we have better fans, a better stadium, better academy, better facilities, more money, more hope, more everything.

At this point can you even call it a rivalry? Rivalries are supposed to be close. Us and Wednesday may be in the same division, but we're absolute fucking leagues apart in reality.

 

[Grizzly blade]

Last time they thought they’d win was the 4-2 defeat at theirs.
As you say, since then it’s been “don’t lose at all costs” defend and disrupt.

 

[FTPE]

Well the last time they were over confident we humiliated them.
I do find it hillarious though that a club that refer to themselves as the massive praise performances like today, celebrate draws like wins, and moan about how expensive some of our players are.

Are you massive? Or are you the arrogant little cousin that talks like they're Jay from inbetweeners, secretly knowing they're a joke.

 

[bornablade]

I want us to be literally 'leagues apart'

Us in Premier league (established) and them in League one.

 

[Proper Blade]

I want us to be literally 'leagues apart'

Us in Premier league (established) and them in League one.

It'll take some time but I think it'll happen eventually.

We're so far ahead of them in almost every aspect it's a joke. They will keep getting worse and worse whilst we hoover up all of the fans in Sheffield and they have a tiny pack of ageing blokes who remember what the 90s were like.

 

[Rochdaleblade]

Some of fans quite relieved at a one goal defeat it would seem.

 

[Keen Blade]

It'll take some time but I think it'll happen eventually.

We're so far ahead of them in almost every aspect it's a joke. They will keep getting worse and worse whilst we hoover up all of the fans in Sheffield and they have a tiny pack of ageing blokes who remember what the 90s were like.

We don't seem to have hoovered up many of the fans - they still get big gates and we fail to fill the Lane - can't understand it really
Do you think we'd get gates as high as theirs if we'd had their last two decades ?
I don't

 

[Grizzly blade]

Think a lot of folk are put off at football in general, lots of it on tele doesn’t help.
Then there’s the abysmal VAR and standard of referees, topped off with a cost which to many is becoming too much when everything else has gone up far faster than their wages!

Petrol…parking…the god awful traffic everywhere you go….it all takes a toll to some and they eventually decide they’ve had enough.

New owners may well manage to improve club exposure on the worldwide scale, which will then see more “tourist” fans coming for the occasion rather than the love of the individual club…all in their half and half scarves!

 

[ZoneManWilf]

Are you massive? Or are you the arrogant little cousin that talks like they're Jay from inbetweeners, secretly knowing they're a joke.

Nailed it.

 

[Tuns25]

We don't seem to have hoovered up many of the fans - they still get big gates and we fail to fill the Lane - can't understand it really
Do you think we'd get gates as high as theirs if we'd had their last two decades ?
I don't

 

[Tuns25]

List the clubs in the top two leagues who haven' averaged 30,000 in the last half century.
We can ignore bigger away capacities for now.

 

[ancientblade]

Some of fans quite relieved at a one goal defeat it would seem.

yes had a look on porktalk and most relieved they didnt get a hammering seem quite happy to only lose 1 - 0 and lots critical of the wednesday players for not doing enough if they finish mid table most pig fans will be happy

 

[Berkshire Blade]

They have only beat us a handful of times this century.

 

[metalblade]

All they can look forwards to now is a cup run and another chance at the sty to beat us. If they can stay around where they are in the table they will have had a good season.

 

[OldBillBlade]

We don't seem to have hoovered up many of the fans - they still get big gates and we fail to fill the Lane - can't understand it really
Do you think we'd get gates as high as theirs if we'd had their last two decades ?
I don't

Thr city is generally support wise 55% Midweek and 45% us. It moves around a little when one teams is doing better than the other. If we could sustain 3 or more years in the Prem the scales would slowly shift as youngsters want to support a Premier League team. Alas last time it was short and quite the opposite to sweet. Establish ourselves and we will see the swing. Till then?

 

[Eels]

I like that there are lots of them - more to be miserable.

 

[wavy-blade]

 

[SRBlade]

Well the last time they were over confident we humiliated them.
I do find it hillarious though that a club that refer to themselves as the massive praise performances like today, celebrate draws like wins, and moan about how expensive some of our players are.

Are you massive? Or are you the arrogant little cousin that talks like they're Jay from inbetweeners, secretly knowing they're a joke.

Forgetting when the spunked money on Rhodes and Hooper to no avail.....

And that's all I recall haha, mebs Bannan and that other midfielder who scored mad goals

 

[VictoryBlade]

We don't seem to have hoovered up many of the fans - they still get big gates and we fail to fill the Lane - can't understand it really
Do you think we'd get gates as high as theirs if we'd had their last two decades ?
I don't

Oh you mean their last 2 homes games of approx 22k?

 

[SRBlade]

Oh you mean their last 2 homes games of approx 22k?

We've gone from 17k fans to 27k fans in 20 years.

 

[Tony_Kaufman]

HMS Piss The League

 

[Sheffsteel]

We don't seem to have hoovered up many of the fans - they still get big gates and we fail to fill the Lane - can't understand it really
Do you think we'd get gates as high as theirs if we'd had their last two decades ?
I don't

How can we hoover up extra fans when ignoring restricted view, the ground is so close to being sold out so often and it's so difficult to buy ticket.
I went to the ticket office last week to buy an extra ticket for a family member who has just arrived from abroad and I was initially refused due to him not having enough points. I've been a ST holder for years and complained to the manager, who eventually let me buy a ticket on the Kop.

It doesnt help that our ticket prices are one of the most expensive in the Championship, of course the SWFC tickets are too expensive too.

Wednesday get big gates for one-off matches but have never had regular big gates in living memory
and remember that's with a bigger capacity and a much bigger away end.
In general Wednesday only ever break 30K when there's 4K away fans.

Regards success and failure, lets not forget United recently had 6 consecutive seasons in league.
If Sheff Wed had that length of stay in league 1 their gates would be down to 15K averages.

You quote the least 2 decades where we've generally been more successful
but lets not forget the 1990's when Sheff Wed were challenging near the top of PL, winning a league cup and being in a FA cup final.

Sheff Utd haven't had anywhere near their success since before the war.
In fact based on the lack of success since the 2nd world war, we have best fanbase, best average attendances in Europe.

 

[Tony_Kaufman]

To end the argument once and for all, here are where each team has finished since Wendy were relegated from the Premier League in 2000.

League finishing positions:

2000/01 SWFC 17th (Champ) SUFC 10th (Champ)
2001/02 SWFC 20th (Champ) SUFC 13th (Champ)
2002/03 SWFC 22nd (Champ) SUFC 3rd (Champ)
2003/04 SWFC 16th (L1) SUFC 8th (Champ)
2004/05 SWFC 5th (L1) SUFC 8th (Champ)
2005/06 SWFC 19th (Champ) SUFC 2nd (Champ)
2006/07 SWFC 9th (Champ) SUFC 18th (PL)
2007/08 SWFC 16th (Champ) SUFC 9th (Champ)
2008/09 SWFC 12th (Champ) SUFC 3rd (Champ)
2009/10 SWFC 22nd (Champ) SUFC 8th (Champ)
2010/11 SWFC 15th (L1) SUFC 23rd (Champ)
2011/12 SWFC 2nd (L1) SUFC 3rd (L1)
2012/13 SWFC 18th (Champ) SUFC 5th (L1)
2013/14 SWFC 16th (Champ) SUFC 7th (L1)
2014/15 SWFC 13th (Champ) SUFC 5th (L1)
2015/16 SWFC 6th (Champ) SUFC 11th (L1)
2016/17 SWFC 4th (Champ) SUFC 1st (L1)
2017/18 SWFC 15th (Champ) SUFC 10th (L1)
2018/19 SWFC 12th (Champ) SUFC 2nd (Champ)
2019/20 SWFC 16th (Champ) SUFC 9th (PL)
2020/21 SWFC 24th (Champ) SUFC 20th (PL)
2021/22 SWFC 4th (L1) SUFC 5th (Champ)
2022/23 SWFC 3rd (L1) SUFC 2nd (Champ)
2023/24 SWFC 20th (Champ) SUFC 20th (PL)


SWFC finished above SUFC 6

SUFC finished above SWFC 18

Apparently, according to their fans, some neutrals and some pundits, they are a huge club and we are a smaller club than them. Hilarious, it's not even close. We've finished above them in 75% of those seasons. It's not even close.

Facts. Don't let them get in the way.

 

[JJBlade]

Surely you are mistaken after watching this 10 minute clip, we only had the ball for four seconds (when we scored) otherwise they'd have edited that out as well

 

[Keen Blade]

How can we hoover up extra fans when ignoring restricted view, the ground is so close to being sold out so often and it's so difficult to buy ticket.
I went to the ticket office last week to buy an extra ticket for a family member who has just arrived from abroad and I was initially refused due to him not having enough points. I've been a ST holder for years and complained to the manager, who eventually let me buy a ticket on the Kop.

It doesnt help that our ticket prices are one of the most expensive in the Championship, of course the SWFC tickets are too expensive too.

Wednesday get big gates for one-off matches but have never had regular big gates in living memory
and remember that's with a bigger capacity and a much bigger away end.
In general Wednesday only ever break 30K when there's 4K away fans.

Regards success and failure, lets not forget United recently had 6 consecutive seasons in league.
If Sheff Wed had that length of stay in league 1 their gates would be down to 15K averages.

You quote the least 2 decades where we've generally been more successful
but lets not forget the 1990's when Sheff Wed were challenging near the top of PL, winning a league cup and being in a FA cup final.

Sheff Utd haven't had anywhere near their success since before the war.
In fact based on the lack of success since the 2nd world war, we have best fanbase, best average attendances in Europe.

You have some good points there but I still can't understand why we can't sell a couple of thousand more home seats when we are riding high at the top of the league.
If the pigs were in our position , I am confident they would be selling all their home seats.
Conversely , if we'd finished below them for 18 of the last 24 seasons and had a horrible team of cloggers like they currently have , in the bottom half , we'd not even be getting 20k , never mind their average of 25k , only 1k or 2k behind us , who are so much better ?
Why are so many of them so loyal to a pile of shit ? Is it bred into them ?
I hate them with a vengeance but I have to say the loyalty of so many is quite remarkable.
In that sense , they are undeservedly a "bigger" club.
I would have thought after 2 decades of pasting them , our tickets would be like gold dust and we'd have a waiting list for STs to justify ground expansion , but strangely it's not happening.
I would have expected a much greater shift in support from blue to red but perhaps there are not enough newcomers to Sheffield and loyalty just passes down family lines ?
Maybe this is why it's so difficult to attract a buyer for club , as they can't get a response to success which might be achievable in London or West Brom or a one club city like Derby whose gates are high despite going nowhere.

 

[Keen Blade]

To end the argument once and for all, here are where each team has finished since Wendy were relegated from the Premier League in 2000.

League finishing positions:

2000/01 SWFC 17th (Champ) SUFC 10th (Champ)
2001/02 SWFC 20th (Champ) SUFC 13th (Champ)
2002/03 SWFC 22nd (Champ) SUFC 3rd (Champ)
2003/04 SWFC 16th (L1) SUFC 8th (Champ)
2004/05 SWFC 5th (L1) SUFC 8th (Champ)
2005/06 SWFC 19th (Champ) SUFC 2nd (Champ)
2006/07 SWFC 9th (Champ) SUFC 18th (PL)
2007/08 SWFC 16th (Champ) SUFC 9th (Champ)
2008/09 SWFC 12th (Champ) SUFC 3rd (Champ)
2009/10 SWFC 22nd (Champ) SUFC 8th (Champ)
2010/11 SWFC 15th (L1) SUFC 23rd (Champ)
2011/12 SWFC 2nd (L1) SUFC 3rd (L1)
2012/13 SWFC 18th (Champ) SUFC 5th (L1)
2013/14 SWFC 16th (Champ) SUFC 7th (L1)
2014/15 SWFC 13th (Champ) SUFC 5th (L1)
2015/16 SWFC 6th (Champ) SUFC 11th (L1)
2016/17 SWFC 4th (Champ) SUFC 1st (L1)
2017/18 SWFC 15th (Champ) SUFC 10th (L1)
2018/19 SWFC 12th (Champ) SUFC 2nd (Champ)
2019/20 SWFC 16th (Champ) SUFC 9th (PL)
2020/21 SWFC 24th (Champ) SUFC 20th (PL)
2021/22 SWFC 4th (L1) SUFC 5th (Champ)
2022/23 SWFC 3rd (L1) SUFC 2nd (Champ)
2023/24 SWFC 20th (Champ) SUFC 20th (PL)


SWFC finished above SUFC 6

SUFC finished above SWFC 18

Apparently, according to their fans, some neutrals and some pundits, they are a huge club and we are a smaller club than them. Hilarious, it's not even close. We've finished above them in 75% of those seasons. It's not even close.

Facts. Don't let them get in the way.

Thank you for these stats

 

[BladeInIreland]

You have some good points there but I still can't understand why we can't sell a couple of thousand more home seats when we are riding high at the top of the league.
If the pigs were in our position , I am confident they would be selling all their home seats.
Conversely , if we'd finished below them for 18 of the last 24 seasons and had a horrible team of cloggers like they currently have , in the bottom half , we'd not even be getting 20k , never mind their average of 25k , only 1k or 2k behind us , who are so much better ?
Why are so many of them so loyal to a pile of shit ? Is it bred into them ?
I hate them with a vengeance but I have to say the loyalty of so many is quite remarkable.
In that sense , they are undeservedly a "bigger" club.
I would have thought after 2 decades of pasting them , our tickets would be like gold dust and we'd have a waiting list for STs to justify ground expansion , but strangely it's not happening.
I would have expected a much greater shift in support from blue to red but perhaps there are not enough newcomers to Sheffield and loyalty just passes down family lines ?
Maybe this is why it's so difficult to attract a buyer for club , as they can't get a response to success which might be achievable in London or West Brom or a one club city like Derby whose gates are high despite going nowhere.

There is a lot of guesswork going on there. What would their gates be if they didn't have their successful spell ,whenever that was (before my time).

All we know is the reality, we are generally getting bigger gates, better results and watching better players.

 

[Inter_blade83]

We don't seem to have hoovered up many of the fans - they still get big gates and we fail to fill the Lane - can't understand it really
Do you think we'd get gates as high as theirs if we'd had their last two decades ?
I don't

This must be some sort of parody.

20 years ago we struggled to break 20k on a regular basis.

We now get over 27k every game and have done for a number of years. Yesterday was as close to a sell out as we'd get. 31,127. Our capacity has also been reduced from the 32,700 we had a decade ago due to removing seats for premier league campaigns. It's now just over 31k.

It's also been well documented that we've got a fair few restricted view seats. Who's going to pay 30-40 quid to have a partial view??? Not me.

It's also obvious from certain games that our ticketing policies is restrictive. 1 ticket per customer, with minimum 500 points for the upcoming Sunderland game.

That stops people bringing friends, relatives etc.

At least the club seem to be changing things slightly this year, Oxford at home has no requirements for previous points when it goes to General Sale. I'm hoping Plymouth is the same, as I can bring my son to his first game that day.

 

[ZoneManWilf]

If the pigs were in our position , I am confident they would be selling all their home seats.

Why do you think that? They have no history for it apart from selling out for one off games. That is true all the way back to the "glory" years of the 90s. They finished 3rd in the top flight and even then couldn't average 30k. (with a stadium back then that could hold over 40k)

They got 22k the other day, we haven't had a gate as low as that since league one. Our gates are consistent, excellent and show our growth as a club which started with Dave Bassett.

I think you're a victim of the pigononics campaign. As a fanbase they make it their duty to relentlessly purport the myth of their massiveness in social media and to every press organisation they can.

If they get a cup tie against a half decent top flight team, their trotters can't type fast enough explaining to media outlets about the "sleeping giant". And because of this torrent of shite the myth gets perpetuated.

Time moves on, clubs change, but in the minds of every pig it's still 1993. Don't believe their bollocks.

 

[Cappy]

One thing I realised today: no matter who is in charge of the pigs, which players they have or where they are in the league, they come into Sheffield derbies hoping not to lose.

Having read most of the derby related posts on here the last week or so, I think the exact same could be said of most blades.

Hardly any confidence and excitement about the potential of beating the main rival. Just a “what if we lose, I’d take a draw” mentality.

Ah well